Inspiration
by Bchets
Summary: Umi and Maki are writing a new duet, but they can't seem to find the right words or the perfect melody for the song. So, they try a lot of things to find some inspiration for writing. UmiMaki oneshot.
**Edit: Made a blatant mistake. Had to fix it. Thanks to TsUNaMyWaVe for pointing it out!**

* * *

 **Inspiration**

It was a Saturday afternoon and I was practicing piano as usual. The door bell rang, so I stood up from piano and opened the door. Umi stood there, dressed in casual clothes with her blue hair waving in the cool wind.

"Hey, Maki."

"Hi, Umi. Come in."

"Pardon the intrusion."

"Ah, my parents are going to be away for the whole weekend. So, no need to be formal."

"Ah, alright. So, where do you want to work?" I led her into the piano room. We both sat down on the piano bench, but we didn't move at all for a while. I finally looked over at Umi, who was staring at her blank notebook. After seeing that I sighed.

 _Why do we have to write a love song?_

* * *

Earlier that week, we were trying to decide on a new duet for μ's, but we were struggling to choose who would sing it.

"I wanna sing another duet!" Honoka was the first to raise her hand, but Kotori looked a bit skeptical.

"But then you have to write lyrics, Honoka-chan."

"Ugh… Okay, who wants to sing this time?"

"Why is it that no one wants to write their own lyrics?!" Umi seemed frustrated at that, but no one answered her. I personally didn't mind writing my own lyrics, but I wasn't sure if they would be on par with Umi's. After all, there was a reason why she wrote most of our songs. Thinking of that, I spoke to Umi.

"I could try… But I'd probably need help." Eli clapped her hands together as if she realized something.

"That's perfect! Our song writer and our composer working on a duet together!" Umi and I looked at each other and shrugged.

"Sure."  
"That's fine with me."

"Huh? But you guys already have Soldier Game! That's not fair! Nico Nii wants a duet, too!"

"Nicocchi, I know you like singing, but I don't think you need another duet. Besides, the cards are agreeing with Eli's suggestion. It might be interesting having our most creative people working on the duet… As long as they don't get too involved in the song writing…"

"What does that mean, Nozomi?" Umi looked at her in confusion, but Nozomi just shook her head.

"Don't worry about it! Anyway, what kind of song would you guys write?" Umi and I couldn't answer that question immediately.

 _What do Umi and I have in common… She writes and I compose... A song about writing songs? That sounds a bit boring._

"What about a love song, nya?" After hearing Rin speak, Umi and I responded at the same time.

"W-what?"  
"H-huh?"

"T-that sounds like a good idea! Love songs are usually pretty popular for duets!" Hanayo didn't sound too convincing because of her naturally quiet voice, but her logic did seem sound.

"O-okay. You want to come over this weekend, then, Umi?"

* * *

And because of that, we were sitting on the piano bench, wracking our brains to find some inspiration. It was then when Umi spoke up.

"Uh, could you try playing something to get me in the mood for writing?"

"Oh, sure." I tried to play something that expressed love, but it didn't sound right. In fact it sounded more…

"Maki… That just sounds sad…"

"Sorry. I don't really have much experience with writing or playing love songs…"

"I see. What about your duet with Nico?"

"Huh? I was just trying to capture how we normally act toward each other. That's why it's kinda energetic."

"O-oh I see." Umi looked downward and smiled at her notebook.

"What about you? Didn't you write a bunch of love songs for Lily White?"

"I got advice from Nozomi." That made sense, she did write Garden of Glass, after all… Just thinking of that song gave me some chills. "And… I had someone on my mind while writing them…"

 _Umi likes someone? Kotori? Honoka? Or maybe Eli? Hmm… All of those seem to make sense._

I looked at Umi and saw her smiling almost bashfully at her notebook. It was a huge change from her normal attitude, and for some reason I felt a little lonely while watching her smile.

"I-I see… Well, we aren't getting anywhere right now… So maybe we should find some inspiration."

"Hmm… You're right. But what could we do to help us write?" I thought a while before answering Umi's question.

"What about a romantic movie?" Umi nodded at the suggestion, so we got up and walked outside of the room.

Umi and I went out and rented the most romantic movie we could find at the convenience store near my house. Once we got back to my house, we sat on the couch in the living room and started to watch the movie.

It was a classic romance film, and though I had only seen a few before, I knew the general formula romantic movies would follow. Thus, the movie was pretty predictable, even up to the final kiss scene. As I watched that scene, I thought of something that was a bit strange.

 _I wonder if Umi's ever kissed anyone._

While thinking of that, I imagined Umi standing on her toes to kiss someone. I shook my head to erase that picture from my mind, but I couldn't help but imagine it. Before I even realized it, the movie had ended and Umi got up to turn on the lights.

"I don't feel any more inspired… Hey, Maki are you okay?"

"W-what? Why do you ask?" As I asked that, Umi lightly wiped my cheek with her hand. I couldn't help but blush at that action, until I realized that I had some tears in my eyes.

 _Why am I crying?_

"Maki, you're surprisingly sensitive when it comes to romance…" Umi giggled.

 _What a cute laugh. Umi rarely laughs at anything…_

"S-stop laughing…" I pouted at Umi, which prompted even more giggles from her. I turned away from her in embarrassment, when suddenly I heard my stomach growl. Umi laughed even more at that.

"Maki, should I make you something?"

"Yes, please…"

* * *

Umi was surprisingly a really good cook. She made a delicious looking spaghetti in a pretty quick time. When she was done, Umi looked at me, seeming a bit flustered.

"H-hey, we should have a romantic dinner... For inspiration, of course!"

"Y-yeah, that seems fine. Um… How do we do that?"

"Hmm… Do you have candles?" I nodded and went to the storage room to grab some of the candles I knew my parents had. It was a bit of a mess, so it took a bit of time for me to find them. When I finally found them and walked back into the room, what I saw made me question my vision.

The lights in the living room were turned off and the curtains were shut. The only sources of light were a pair of lit candles on top of the table where Umi was sitting. There was a small vase with a single rose next to the plate across from Umi. The presentation and decoration that Umi had prepared were perfect.

"W-wow. This is amazing."

"Oh, sorry for making you get candles. I found some in the kitchen. Well, come here and eat." I sat down and admired the red rose in front of me. "I picked that from the garden and brought one of your vases over here. Ah, I didn't ask for permission. Sorry."

"No it's okay. I'm just stunned is all. This is really impressive, Umi."

"Thank you. Shall we eat?"

"Yeah, let's eat." While the ambiance was that of a romantic dinner, we didn't treat each other any differently. I may not have gotten a spark of inspiration during the meal, but my belly was full of Umi's fantastic spaghetti and I was ready to get back to work.

"Your cooking was amazing, Umi."

"I'm glad you liked it! Ready to try writing this song again?" I nodded and, after cleaning up with Umi, we went back to the piano room and began writing the song.

Rather, we tried to start writing the song, but still couldn't find the right melody or words. And after hours of revisions, night had fallen and I was starting to get tired. Umi noticed that and decided to speak up.

"I think we're both getting tired. Let's stop for tonight."

"Yeah, do you want to take a bath? You can go first."

"Sure." After both Umi and I had bathed and gotten ready for bed, we walked into my room.

"Do you want to share my bed?"

"W-what?"

"I could get the futons if you're opposed to it."

"N-no, it's okay. Thanks. Wow, your bed is huge."

"Yeah, I like it a lot. It's really comfy, too." We both laid down.

"Mmm… Yeah it is. Well, good night, Maki."

"Good night, Umi." As I sunk into my pillow, I realized how embarrassing this was, leaving me unable to sleep for a while. But eventually, I heard Umi's soft breathing from next to me, and I also fell asleep and started to dream.

 _Umi stood there with a bouquet of red roses. As I approached, she turned to me and spoke._

 _"Hi Maki."_

 _"What are you doing, Umi?"_

 _"Just waiting for _." I didn't catch the name, nor did I see who it was that approached Umi from behind. The person hugged Umi, then Umi turned around and kissed the person while I watched._

 _"I love you, _." Then they walked away, leaving me staring at them in the distance._

"Maki?" I awoke to the sound of someone calling my name. I opened my eyes to see Umi in front of me. Our faces were extremely close, so I looked away from her amber eyes in embarrassment.

"W-what is it?"

"It sounded like you were having a bad dream. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah… I'm fine."

"You can tell me if something is wrong, you know." I looked back at Umi, and she smiled at me. "Do you need me to help you?"

"Well, I uhh… Can I hug you right now?"

"H-huh? Sure… If that will help you sleep, then yes." Hearing that, I got closer to Umi and wrapped my arms around her. She felt very warm and soft, so I drifted off quickly into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

I woke up the next morning and found that Umi was no longer next to me. Then I got up and smelled something coming from the kitchen. I walked out to find Umi cooking again.

"Good morning."

"Ah, good morning! I'm about to finish breakfast." Once Umi finished, we sat down to eat. "So, did you sleep okay?" Remembering the events of last night, I felt heat rise to my cheeks.

"Y-yeah... Did you?"

"I slept fine. You were hugging me pretty tightly though." I blushed even more at that and turned away from Umi. I heard her chuckle again. "I didn't have any trouble sleeping, so don't worry about it."

 _That's not really what I'm worried about..._

After eating, we walked back to the piano room and worked on the song again. But every time I played a few notes, I ended up remembering the dream from last night and getting flustered. Umi seemed to have noticed this and walked over with her notebook. I saw multiple lines crossed out on the paper.

"What's wrong?" Umi looked at me with concern. And after she moved closer to me, I opened my mouth without much thought.

"Have you ever kissed someone?" Umi's face turned very red and she looked downward. Shocked that I even asked the question, I tried to retract it. "You don't have to answer…"

"N-no. I haven't. Have you?"

"No..."

"Why'd you ask?"

 _Huh? Why did I ask? It's not like it mattered anyway..._

While I was thinking of that, I remembered what I thought about during the movie and got flustered again. Because of that, I spoke quickly once more.

"I was just thinking we were both inexperienced, and that's why we're having trouble, you know?" Umi brought her hand to her chin and pondered that for a bit. Then her cheeks became red and she spoke to me.

"T-then, do you want to try it?"

"Huh? Try what?"

"K-k-kissing?"

"W-what?!" As I sat there, frozen due to shock, Umi approached me slowly and sat down next to me on the bench. I recovered as she slid towards me, and after looking into her eyes, I came to a decision. "If it will help with writing the song..."

"O-okay... Here I go..." Umi slid closer to me until our faces were just inches away. We sat there, staring into each other's eyes while we both slowly leaned forward. Eventually, we both stopped as our lips were about to meet. I could hear my heart pounding as we sat there without moving an inch. I was unsure about crossing that thin boundary between friend and lover, but as Umi found her resolve and closed the distance, the sensation of having her lips upon mine felt wonderful.

 _It's like drowning... But I don't want it to end. I could stay like this forever._

After an amount of time that seemed too short, Umi and I stopped in order to breathe, but immediately after catching my breath, I leaned in again and crashed my lips against hers. After that kiss, Umi pulled away and looked at me.

"I love you, Maki." I knew exactly how to respond to that.

"I love you, Umi." Umi laughed and smiled at me.

"I think writing is gonna be easier now."

"Hmm, maybe." After saying that, I stole another kiss from Umi. Once it ended, she stared at me and whispered.

"You're so shameless..."

* * *

On Monday, we met with the rest of μ's and talked about our duet. Well, we would have if we actually did any work on it. Instead, we showed up at the club room empty-handed. Eli was the first to voice her concerns.

"Huh? What do you mean you guys don't have anything? Didn't Umi spend the weekend at your house, Maki?" I nodded, but the memories of that Sunday rushed back to my head, and I tried to hide my embarrassment from the rest of the group.

"Did you two have trouble writing because it was supposed to be a love song?" I looked at Honoka who had a worried look on her face.

"It's not that..." As Umi spoke, I made eye contact with her and immediately turned my face downward in embarrassment. I heard Nozomi's voice next.

"Hehe... More like they got too into it!" As she laughed, The two of us responded at the same time.

"N-Nozomi!"  
"Shameless!"

* * *

 **Hey all, thanks for reading this. So I had caffeine so I could study, and I normally don't drink anything with caffeine, so my brain was moving really fast, and I ended up writing this instead of studying... Hopefully it made sense and everything flowed properly. It all sounded good in my head, but idk if it sounds good on paper. Well, I hope you enjoyed it.**

 **-Bchets**


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